4400, the train that was cut arrived at Springfield at 6:20am. It was mainly cut due to low ridership and for reasons I stated above. It was replaced with 4450 which runs to Hartford.
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njt/mnrrbuff wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 4:15 pm I don't think that too many people who are working in Springfield start their shifts around the 7:00 hour. Springfield is as large of a city as Washington, DC or Baltimore. The ride from New Haven to Springfield isn't short either. I'm not saying that many people don't commute 62 miles each way especially if its a 90 minutes train ride. Many do. It's just that Springfield doesn't have as many job industries as any of the larger cities in the Northeast. Hartford has plenty of office buildings near the train station. That 4450 option is great for people who are working an 8:00 to 4:00 shift.Baltimore: 619,000 people
lordsigma12345 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2019 5:58 pm I was not surprised 4400 got cut. That train ran too early to be useful for most people’s purposes. Way too early for Hartford and also too early for anyone who may be commuting to Springfield to use it. It was a glorified dead head. I don’t see them trying to do a proper northbound commuter trip for Springfield without mass kicking in funding or until service frequencies are eventually increased long term.The schedule for 4400 wasn't good for anyone. When this project was proposed, MassDOT was supposed to build a layover yard for both CTrail and Knowledge Corridor services. Then we elected Two Buck Chuck, and the project never got built or even discussed. That's where Massachusetts really dropped the ball for improved service on the northern portion of the line.
njt/mnrrbuff wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2019 5:04 pm Well, political and money issues do go hand in hand. Yes, the financial situation in Connecticut isn't too good right now. I agree that east of New Haven, the Shore Line East communities aren't densely populated. After New Haven and heading east along the sound, there isn't much in the way toward densely populated communities. I'm sure that other than the summer and the days before holidays, those Shore Line East trains don't have high ridership. I hate to say this but if the ridership isn't high enough on the off peak and weekend Shore Line East trains, then maybe CDOT should have buses replace them.No way to have bus to replace SLE. There is lots of support on SLE in CT. The talk in last year during budget crisis was to cut off peak and weekend service to save money. This did not succeed and SLE survived. I 95 is a lot busier highway than I 91. This probably because of heavier traffic to RI or NY along east of New Haven and vacation traffic.
GirlOnTheTrain wrote: ↑Sun Oct 27, 2019 10:07 am I guess you missed all of the crying and complaining when they decimated Shore Line East service for track work. You're not going to rob Peter to pay Paul. The shoreline communities may not have as much population density, but I can guarantee you they have more money and political connections than the average resident of say, Meriden or Wallingford.Yep, the support on SLE is huge in CT. Population is only one piece of information. For the complain of lack of GCT big board connection info for HL, but SLE info is there. CtDOT said that , yes, HL ridership is higher than SLE, but the ridership of SLE has 10 times more metro north connections than HL ridership.